Ryan Nicol
The city of Miami is defending testing dozens of officials for the COVID-19 virus as many Floridians still face strict limits on who is able to access those tests.
The testing occurred after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez interacted with a Brazilian official who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Suarez, too, ended up testing positive despite being asymptomatic. As noted by the Miami Herald, that prompted a rush to test more than 40 Miami officials — and some of their spouses — despite those individuals also showing no symptoms.
The city released a statement defending those tests on individuals who interacted with the Mayor.
“The City of Miami, working with the Florida Department of Health, facilitated testing of those internal to our administration that had direct contact with the Mayor as a means to ensure continuity of government and contain any significant spread of the virus,” read a statement from the city.
“The City of Miami experienced a circumstance that is unprecedented and one which, fortunately, no other municipal government has had to deal with to this point,” the statement continued. “We stand by the decision, as we have an obligation to our residents and property owners to do all we can to keep our government operating at maximum capacity.”
The Miami approach appears to be a variant of the line airplane passengers receive during the mandatory safety instruction in case cabin depressurization. That is: always place the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others. That’s because you may lose the ability to help anyone if you run out of oxygen.
Officials in charge of leading the local response wanted to ensure they were not knocked out of commission due to the virus. Without government officials leading the local response, who will?
But things aren’t so easy for non-government officials seeking a test for the virus. In announcing a new drive-thru testing site in Broward County late last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis noted the state still has a limited number of tests available.
“It’s important that people understand and are able to temp their expectations,” DeSantis said. “We’re right now living through the biggest crunch in demand for various medical supplies that we’ve ever seen in our country’s history.”
Those limits stand in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that anyone who wants a test can have one. DeSantis said he hopes the state can get to that point, but they still aren’t there.
“My hope is as we get more supplies, we’ll be able to expand the ranges for this drive-thru testing.”
For now, limits remain on members of the general public seeking tests. At the Pembroke Pines site, health care workers are eligible, as are people from susceptible groups — the elderly or immunocompromised — who are showing symptoms.
Suarez and other asymptomatic Miami officials fit into neither of those categories. Neither does Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez, father of the Miami Mayor.
But he too received a test.
“I assumed as the father of the only identified person in this community of three million people to be infected, and a fairly well known public figure, that testing negative would take pressure off everyone else and reduce community panic and stress,” Commissioner Suarez said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
“I assumed that was the logical priority for testing.”
